Heading to Las Vegas! #VMworld 2016

I’ve been very fortunate to be able to go to VMworld Europe for the past 3 years, mainly thanks to the vExpert program and the availability of the blogger pass. This year I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get to Barcelona because of work, so I thought I’d apply for a VMworld US blogger pass – I’m very excited to have been given one! As with previous years, I’ll be blogging at least once a day with my thoughts and any useful info I’ve gleaned – I definitely don’t want to take the pass for granted!

The blogger pass is awesome, but I still need to fund my flights, hotel, and some spending money while there. I wanted to thank my blog sponsors VMTurbo and Veeam for their continued support which has made it possible to pay for these flights without costing my family. On that note, I still have one more slot for a sponsor, so if you represent someone who’d like to advertise on DefinIT.co.uk, get in touch!

I will be flying to Las Vegas (via Toronto?! cheap flights) on Saturday 27th, arriving late evening, and I’m staying at the Excalibur hotel. I am looking forward to comparing US and EU – just in sheer numbers the US event is far bigger and it will be fantastic to be part of such a huge gathering of people. This will be my first visit to the US, so it will be interesting seeing Las Vegas – I’m fully aware that Vegas is a crazy place and not representative of the US – but it will be fun seeing the crazy!

I’m not sure if I’ll take advantage of the cheap certifications this year – in previous years I’ve take VCIX-NV, VCP-NV and VCAP5-DCD all with great results, so it’s something I’d consider, although at this point I’m not 100% sure what exam I’d take (I’ve done a lot of betas recently!)

Obviously there are some pretty awesome sessions to be attended (I’ve not picked yet as the session planner hasn’t been published, but I’ll post here when I have) – I’ll be focussing on my normal bag:

vRealize Automation

NSX

VSAN

PowerCLI, APIs and automation

Plus I’ll also be looking to pick up any sessions on emerging technologies like Cloud Native Applications, and some of the technology previews for upcoming feature releases. Hopefully there will be some sessions like last year’s excellent vExpert vRA7 briefing.

As it’s my first VMworld US, I am open to suggestions from any veterans on what are the “must-do” activities around the conference, so far on my list…

I quite like a bit of Fall Out Boy, so the VMworld Party should be fun, I have to be honest that I’ve not been so much a fan of the last few acts in Barcelona!

I’m assuming there will be a VCDX reception, it’s always great to meet up with fellow VCDXs

Likewise I’m hoping there will be a vExpert event, though given the numbers of vExpert now it might be a big event!

As and when the after hours events come out they’re added to running-system.com here.

Lastly, I’m really looking forward to meeting some of my fellow vExperts, VCDXs and members of the community while I’m in the US and while there are a few of my European friends and colleagues attending I’m not naturally the most outgoing of people so please come and say hi if you see me!